by Rachel Shuster, USA TODAY Sports

by Rachel Shuster, USA TODAY Sports

With Manti Te'o's taped interview with Katie Couric airing later Thursday, another twist emerges to the bizarre story of the girlfriend hoax of the Notre Dame linebacker:

The lawyer for alleged hoax scammer Ronaiah Tuiasosopo tells The (New York) Daily News that it was his client, in a falsetto voice, who spoke on the phone to Te'o, impersonating fake girlfriend Lennay Kekua.

Te'o "thought it was a female he was talking with," lawyer Milton Grimes told The News. "It was Ronaiah as Lennay."

Grimes, the attorney who helped Rodney King get a multimillion-dollar judgment against the city of Los Angeles, says the deception was similar to an actor playing a role.

"Come on, Hollywood does it all the time," Grimes told The News. "People can do that."

And that's right up Tuiasosopo's alley -- he has had vocal and acting training.

Griimes said Tuiasosopo is seeing a mental health professional and wants to tell his side.

"This wasn't a prank to make fun," Grimes told The News. "It was establishing a communication with someone. ... It was a person with a troubled existence trying to reach out and communicate and have a relationship."